Opiate effects on brain

Scientists have long known that the brain possesses natural chemicals similar to marijuana. While little is known about their precise function in the brain, studies suggest that these compounds, known as cannabinoids, and the receptors they bind to, play a role in diseases, including schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and obesity. Now researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a way to image cannabinoid receptors in living animals. The tool will help scientists figure out how these receptors are altered in drug addiction and disease, as well as helping pharmaceutical companies to design drugs that better target this system. “This is a real breakthrough,” says Richard Frank, vice president of medical affairs at GE Healthcare in Princeton, NJ. “Scientists have long believed that the cannabinoid system is involved in diseases, but they’ve never been able to measure the receptor in living people’s brains.” The tracer is very … [Read more...] about Revealing How Marijuana Affects the Brain

The abuse and overuse of prescription pain medicine is a growing problem, especially in the United States. To help reduce patients’ reliance on opiates and other powerful pain medicines, a research team from the University of Texas at Arlington has been working on an alternative method for controlling pain — electrical stimulation of the brain.The UTA researchers are not the first ones to explore electrical stimulation as a way of managing pain. There already exists an experimental class of similar wearable devices that take advantage of the technique known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS. These devices deliver small and painless electrical pulses to your nerves via electrodes placed on your skin. The pulses are designed to confuse your nerves and cancel out the pain signal they’re sending to your brain — thereby providing instant pain relief to the area of the body on which the electrodes are placed.The UTA device takes this … [Read more...] about New implantable device alleviates pain by tricking your brain with electrical pulses

Researchers have been trying for years to unlock the secret behind “runner’s high” — that feeling of euphoria experienced by some people when they exercise vigorously. Previous research hinted at endorphins as the cause for the high, but these molecules may be receiving credit when no credit is due. New research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests endocannabinoids, not endorphins, are the actual cause of runner’s high.For years, Endorphins have been singled out as the most likely cause of runner’s high. They are self-produced opiates and their level in the bloodstream increases in response to exercise. This theory has one major flaw — endorphins are large molecules and thus unable to pass through the blood-brain barrier. In other words, they may be able to curb muscle pain from exercise, but they likely cannot produce the mood-changing high people feel after a vigorous workout.Other researchers looked … [Read more...] about Study: ‘Runner’s high’ euphoria is caused by marijuana-like chemicals — not endorphins

Informatics Pinch Away the Pain? Scorpion venom could be alternative to morphine Scorpion venom is notoriously poisonous — but it might be used as an alternative to dangerous and addictive painkillers, like morphine, a Tel Aviv University researcher claims. Michael Gurevitz, of Tel Aviv University's Department of Plant Sciences, is investigating new ways for developing a novel painkiller based on natural compounds found in the venom of scorpions. These compounds have gone through millions of years of evolution, and some show high efficacy and specificity for certain components of the body with no side effects, he says. Peptide toxins found in scorpion venom interact with sodium channels in nervous and muscular systems — and some of these sodium channels communicate pain, says Gurevitz. "The mammalian body has nine different sodium channels of which only a certain subtype delivers pain to our brain. We are trying to understand how toxins in the venom interact with … [Read more...] about Pinch Away the Pain? Scorpion venom could be alternative to morphine

Drug Safety Tummy tucks really hurt. Doctors carve from hip to hip, slicing off skin, tightening muscles, tugging at innards. Patients often need strong painkillers for days or even weeks, but Mary Hernandez went home on just over-the-counter ibuprofen.The reason may be the yellowish goo smeared on her 18-inch wound as she lay on the operating table. The Houston woman was helping test a novel medicine aimed at avoiding opioids, potent pain relievers fueling an epidemic of overuse and addiction.Vicodin, OxyContin and similar drugs are widely used for bad backs, severe arthritis, damaged nerves and other woes. They work powerfully in brain areas that control pleasure and pain, but the body adapts to them quickly, so people need higher and higher doses to get relief.This growing dependence on opioids has mushroomed into a national health crisis, ripping apart communities and straining police and health departments. Every day, an overdose of prescription opioids or heroin kills 91 people, … [Read more...] about Overcoming Opioids: The Quest for Less Addictive Drugs

Drug Discovery A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the brain, according to a new study to be published in the journal Pain. The research demonstrates for the first time that cannabinoid receptors called CB2, which can be activated by cannabis use, are present in human sensory nerves in the peripheral nervous system, but are not present in a normal human brain. Drugs which activate the CB2 receptors are able to block pain by stopping pain signals being transmitted in human sensory nerves, according to the study, led by researchers from Imperial College London.Previous studies have mainly focused on the other receptor activated by cannabis use, known as CB1, which was believed to be the primary receptor involved in pain relief. However, as CB1 receptors are found in the brain, taking drugs which activate these receptors can lead to side-effects, such as drowsiness, dependence and psychosis, and also recreational abuse.The new research … [Read more...] about Cannabis-like Drugs Could Block Pain Without Affecting Brain

Life Sciences Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.In their study, published Jan. 4 in the online edition of Molecular Therapy and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the researchers say this novel strategy might be the first to offer cocaine addicts a fairly simple way to break and reverse their habit, and it might also be useful in treating other addictions, such as to nicotine, heroin and other opiates."Our very dramatic data shows that we can protect mice against the effects of cocaine, and we think this approach could be very promising in fighting addiction in humans," says the study's lead investigator, Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chairman and professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.He says the antibody immune response produced in lab mice by the vaccine binds to, and sequesters, cocaine molecules before the drug … [Read more...] about Cornell Scientists Develop Cocaine Vaccine

Security PNNL and Air Force 59th to develop better tests for drug abuse and dependenceRICHLAND, Wash. -- A new collaboration between the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Air Force's 59th Medical Wing hopes to improve on drug tests for illicit drug use and abuse. Not only are the researchers looking for a better indicator of current or past use, but they'd like to be able to identify people prone to abusing drugs in the first place. Funded by the Department of Defense, the $850,000 two-year study will lay the foundation for future work to determine who might be susceptible to hydrocodone. Initially, the collaboration will map out drug breakdown products, proteins and other compounds that healthy bodies make in response to the prescription painkiller hydrocodone. "We want to enhance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of drug addiction. Our military deserves the best care we can give them," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Vikhyat Bebarta, a research physician … [Read more...] about PNNL and Air Force 59th to develop better tests for drug abuse and dependence

Security Looking for secrets to drug addiction in our bloodRICHLAND, Wash. – A new collaboration between the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Air Force's 59th Medical Wing hopes to improve on drug tests for illicit drug use and abuse. Not only are the researchers looking for a better indicator of current or past use, but they'd like to be able to identify people prone to abusing drugs in the first place.Funded by the Department of Defense, the $850,000 two-year study will lay the foundation for future work to determine who might be susceptible to hydrocodone. Initially, the collaboration will map out drug breakdown products, proteins and other compounds that healthy bodies make in response to the prescription painkiller hydrocodone."We want to enhance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of drug addiction. Our military deserves the best care we can give them," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Vikhyat Bebarta, a research physician in the 59th … [Read more...] about Looking for secrets to drug addiction in our blood

Data Analysis Nobel laureate Brian Kobilka discusses his award-winning research at a news conference Wednesday. Brian Kobilka, MD, professor and chair of molecular and cellular physiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on G-protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs.The receptors, which snake in and out of the cell membrane, serve as one of the main methods of communication within the body — conveying chemical messages into the cell's interior from outside through the membrane. In 2011, Kobilka crystallized one of the receptors bound to its signaling molecule.Roughly 800 different GPCRs have been identified to date, making them one of the largest families of human proteins. These proteins regulate the beating of our hearts, the workings of our brains and nearly every other physiological process. About 40 percent of all medications target these receptors, including Zyprexa, which is used to treat … [Read more...] about Stanford scientist Brian Kobilka wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry